Support for the development of a national strategy for digital inclusion in Tunisia

Since October 2022, Espelia and its partner Emmaüs Connect have been supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Communication Technologies (MTC) in the development of its national digital inclusion strategy.

To guarantee a country-wide digital transition and not that of a minority, the Ministry, in partnership with the French Agency of Development (AFD), is developing a national digital inclusion strategy. It is in this context that Espelia's experts went to Tunis on January 25 to organize a collective intelligence workshop. This workshop brought together numerous national actors of the digital sector: ministry, public entities, operators, start-ups, national project leaders, etc. During the workshop, participants had the pleasure to exchange with Minister Nizar bin Nagy. He shared with everyone his thoughts on the main challenges and priorities regarding digital inclusion.

The workshop's objective was twofold: (1) to build on the data collected so far, in particular during the three workshops held in the regions of Nabeul, Jendouba and Sidi Bouzid, (2) to build a comprehensive and shared vision of digital inclusion in Tunisia. By the end of the workshop, the first broad outlines of the future national strategy began to emerge.

The mission will carry on in the next weeks, with the following next steps:

• Draft operational action plan to bridge the digital divide;
• Support in defining priorities and recommendations for digital inclusion; and,
• Elaboration of an operational roadmap and support to its implementation.